#454Yasumitsu Shigeta$4.24B

Random fact: Was the youngest CEO of a public company in Japan in 1996.

Overview

Shigeta is the founder and chairman of Hikari Tsushin, a Japanese retailer that sells mobile phones, office automation products and insurance plans. He owns 40 percent of the Tokyo-based company, which operates more than 2,000 shops across Japan and reported revenue of 428.9 billion yen ($4 billion) in the 2017 fiscal year.

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Net Worth Summary

Cash

Private asset

Public asset

Misc. liabilities

Confidence rating:

The majority of Shigeta's wealth comes from a 40 percent stake in Hikari Tsushin, a publicly traded retailer that sells mobile phones, office automation products and insurance plans. The Tokyo-based company has more than 2,000 retail phone shops across Japan and reported revenue of 428.9 billion yen ($4 billion) in the year through March 2017, according to the company's financial statement.

Shigeta holds shares in Hikari Tsushin directly, through a 90 percent stake in Tokyo-based holding company Hikari Power, and with his wife and children, according to the company's 2016 annual Yuho report. Shares held by his family are credited to Shigeta to reflect his status as founder and chairman. Pledged shares have been excluded from the calculation of his net worth.

He also has a direct 7.4 percent interest in JustSystems Corp, a developer of computer application software, according to the company's 2016 annual Yuho report. He also directly holds 2.9 percent of medical equipment manufacturer Techno Medica Co., according to the company's 2016 annual Yuho report.

The value of Shigeta's cash holdings is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, market performance and taxes.

A Hikari Tsushin spokeswoman who asked not to be identified due to company policy declined to comment on Shigeta's net worth.

Biography

Birthdate: 2/25/1965

Family: Married, 3 children

Education:
8/1985, Nihon University

Yasumitsu Shigeta was born in Tokyo in 1965. He went to Tokyo-based Nihon University but dropped out after three months. He founded Hikari Tshushin in 1988 as a company that offers telecom-equipment leasing and long-distance phone services.

The company started to take off following de-regulation of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone, the former state-owned monopoly. Hikari Tsushin acted as a distributor for new telecom companies that sprouted up in the wake of the breakup and soon set up "Hit Shops," a chain of franchised mobile phone stores, to sell new phones from the company. The number of Hit Shops across Japan reached 2,200 in 2000. Shigeta used capital from this profitable retail market for phones to invest in other companies and tied his company's future to the internet. He'd invested in 70 internet ventures in Japan by 2000, China and the U.S., including SoftBank.

Shigeta made the record of the youngest CEO of a public company when Hikari Tsushin went public in 1996 but suffered a reversal during the technology crash four years later. Hikari Tsushin shares, which hit 241,000 yen ($2,280) in mid-February of 2000, had lost 90 percent of value in less than three months to trade at 21,800 yen in April.

When the internet bubble burst in the early 2000s, Shigeta's venture investments collapsed, while Bungei Shunju, a monthly Japanese magazine, reported in February 2000 that the company had inflated its sales figures.

Shigeta came up with restructuring plans for the businesses by April 2000, closing half the retail stores and selling off Hikari Tsushin's subsidiaries and investments. Today, Hikari Tsushin sells mobile phones, office automation products and insurance plans. The company has more than 2,000 retail phone shops across Japan and reported revenue of 428.9 billion yen ($4 billion) in the year through March 2017.

Milestones

1965Shigeta is born in Tokyo.

1988Shigeta founds Hikari Tsushin.

1996Initial public offering for Hikari Tsushin.

1999Hikari Tsushin's mobile phone chain outlets total 1,800.

2000Shigeta announces Hikari Tsushin's restructuring plan.

2001Hikari Tsushin's number of employees exceeds 10,000 nationwide.

2006Hikari insurance call center employees hit 3,000.

2007Company's mobile phone outlets exceed 1,000.

Source: Bloomberg reporting

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The index is a dynamic measure of personal wealth based on changes in markets, the economy and Bloomberg reporting. Each net worth figure is updated every business day after the close of trading in New York. Stakes in publicly traded companies are valued using the share's most recent closing price. Valuations are converted to U.S. dollars at current exchange rates... Read our complete methodology →